use strict;
my $str = '1d 2h 3m 4s
1h 2m 3s
1m 2s
1s
1d2h3m4s
1h2m3s
1m2s
1s
15m
1d 3m';
my $regex = qr/^(?:(?:(?:(\d+)d\s*)?((\d+)h\s*)?)?(\d+)m\s*)?((\d+)s)?$/mp;
my $subst = '';
my $result = $str =~ s/$regex/$subst/rg;
print "The result of the substitution is' $result\n";
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Perl, please visit: http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html